Decision No 1719/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing the Youth in Action programme for the period 2007 to 2013

• Coming into Force: 01 January 2007,14 December 2006
• End of Effective Date: 31 December 2013
• Celex Number: 32006D1719
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2006/1719/oj
• Published date: 24 November 2006
• Date: 15 November 2006
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Union, L 327, 24 November 2006

24.11.2006 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 327/30

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DECISION No 1719/2006/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 15 November 2006

establishing the ‘Youth in Action’ programme for the period 2007 to 2013

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 149(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure in Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1) The Treaty establishing the European Community, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Treaty’, establishes citizenship of the Union and provides that Community action in the field of education, vocational training and youth is to be aimed, primarily, at encouraging the development of youth exchanges, exchanges of socio-educational instructors and quality education.

(2) The Treaty on European Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, equality between men and women and non-discrimination. The promotion of young people's active citizenship should contribute to the development of these values.

(3) Decision No 1031/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2000 established the ‘Youth’ Community action programme (4). It is appropriate to pursue and strengthen cooperation and Community action in that field on the basis of the experience acquired from that programme.

(4) Decision No 790/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 established a programme of Community action to promote bodies active at European level in the field of youth (5).

(5) The extraordinary European Council held in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000 established a strategic objective for the EU including an active employment policy giving greater priority to lifelong learning, complemented by the sustainable development strategy of the Gothenburg European Council of 15 and 16 June 2001.

(6) The Laeken Declaration annexed to the Presidency conclusions of the European Council of 14 and 15 December 2001 asserts that one of the basic challenges to be resolved by the EU is how to bring citizens, and primarily young people, closer to the European design and the European institutions.

(7) The Commission adopted a White Paper on ‘A new impetus for European youth’ on 21 November 2001, which proposes a cooperation framework in the field of youth to focus on participation, information, voluntary activities and a greater understanding of young people. The European Parliament adopted these proposals in its resolution of 14 May 2002 (6).

(8) The Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 27 June 2002 (7) establishes, in particular, an open method of coordination covering the priorities of participation, information, voluntary activities among young people and greater understanding of youth. This should be taken into account in the implementation of the Youth in Action Programme, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Programme’.

(9) In its conclusions of 6 May 2003 (8), the Council stresses the need to maintain and develop the existing Community instruments specifically addressed to young people, as they are essential for the development of Member States' cooperation in the field of youth, and, moreover, that the priorities and objectives of those instruments should be aligned with the Framework of European Cooperation in the field of Youth.

(10) The Spring European Council on 22 and 23 March 2005 adopted the European Pact for Youth as one of the instruments contributing to the achievement of the Lisbon objectives of growth and jobs. The Pact focuses on three areas: employment, integration and social advancement; education, training and mobility; reconciliation of working life and family life.

(11) The Community's action includes a contribution to high quality education and training and must seek to eliminate inequalities and promote equality between men and women, pursuant to Article 3(2) of the Treaty.

(12) The special needs of people with disabilities should be addressed.

(13) There is a need to promote active citizenship and, when implementing the action lines, step up the fight against exclusion and discrimination in all their forms, including those based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, in accordance with Article 13(1) of the Treaty.

(14) The candidate countries and those EFTA countries which are parties to the EEA Agreement are recognised as potential participants in Community programmes, in accordance with the agreements concluded with them.

(15) The Thessaloniki European Council of 19 and 20 June 2003 adopted the ‘Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans: moving towards European integration’, which provides that Community programmes should be open to countries forming part of the Stabilisation and Association process, on the basis of framework agreements to be signed between the Community and these countries.

(16) Steps should be taken with a view to opening up the Programme to Switzerland.

(17) The Barcelona Declaration adopted at the Euro-Mediterranean conference in 1995 states that youth exchanges should be the means to prepare future generations for closer cooperation between the Euro-Mediterranean partners, while respecting the principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

(18) In its conclusions of 16 June 2003, the Council on the basis of the Commission communication entitled ‘Wider Europe — Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours’ sets out as action lines for the Community the stepping up of cultural cooperation, mutual understanding and cooperation in the area of education and training with the neighbouring countries.

(19) The interim evaluation reports of the existing Youth Programme and the public consultation on the future of Community's activity in education, training and youth reveal a strong and in some respects growing need for continuing cooperation and mobility in the youth field at European level, and press for a simpler, more user-friendly and more flexible approach to implement such action.

(20) Following the principle of sound financial management, the implementation of the Programme may be simplified by recourse to lump sum funding, in respect either of support awarded to programme participants or of Community support for the structures established at national level for the administration of the Programme.

(21) The Programme should be regularly monitored and evaluated in cooperation between the Commission and the Member States in order to allow for readjustments, particularly in the priorities for implementing the measures. This monitoring and evaluation should include measurable and relevant objectives and indicators.

(22) It is necessary to provide sufficient flexibility in the formulation of the legal base for the Programme to allow for appropriate adjustments in the actions to respond to changing needs during the period 2007 to 2013, and to avoid the excessively detailed provisions of previous programmes, so this Decision is deliberately limited to generic definitions of actions and their essential accompanying administrative and financial provisions.

(23) It is appropriate to ensure a correct closure of the Programme, in particular regarding the continuation of multi-annual arrangements for its management, such as the financing of technical and administrative assistance. As of 1 January 2014, the technical and administrative assistance will ensure, if necessary, the management of actions not yet finalised by the end of 2013.

(24) It is necessary to provide for specific arrangements for the application of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (9) and its implementing measures, as well as for the derogations from these texts necessitated by the features of the beneficiaries and the nature of the actions.

(25) Appropriate measures should be implemented to prevent irregularities and fraud and to recover funds lost or incorrectly paid or used.

(26) This Decision lays down for the entire duration of the Programme, a financial envelope constituting the prime reference, within the meaning of point 37 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (10), for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure.

(27) Since the objectives of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States as multilateral partnerships, transnational mobility measures and an exchange of information at European level are required and can therefore, by reason of the transnational and multilateral scale of the proposed actions and measures, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

(28)

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